


Under the Wolf Blood Moon

by flung0ut0fspace



Category: Lovecraft Country, Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gothic Romance, How are there not more fics about these two or this show!, I ship these two SO HARD, Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Love Scene, Tic x Leti, Tic/Leti - Freeform, hbo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:13:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26292436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flung0ut0fspace/pseuds/flung0ut0fspace
Summary: Amidst the chaos and adventure of just trying to stay alive in Lovecraft Country, Tic and Leti find themselves with a much-needed moment of solitude and privacy to care for each other and deepen their budding romance.
Relationships: Atticus Freeman/Letitia Lewis, Tic/Leti
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	Under the Wolf Blood Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Excited to be among the first to write fic for this swoony new ship! Tic and Leti are my favorite TV couple in a long while, and Jurnee Smollett and Jonathan Majors' chemistry is so electric. I love their relationship and am excited to write more little one-offs to tide me over between episodes! Hope other fans make their way here and join me in building the fic canon of this sweet, sexy pair!

The summer of 1955 yawned into a hazy Chicago August. Anything that brought relief from the heat was welcomed throughout the city: fire hydrants, neighbors’ sprinklers and hoses, and of course Lake Michigan for the East-siders.

Up on the North side, Letitia Lewis was trying her best to stay cool, collected, and out of debt and harm’s way. She felt the eyes of her neighborhood on her at all times, especially from the local police. The signs proclaiming her and her tenants “undesirables” sat fixed on neighboring lawns. But Leti kept her head on straight and her mission clear: provide a safe haven for her friends and community.

The house was on its way to being a landmark, enough that it and its front-page-news-making landlady had enough visibility in the broader city to keep the burning crosses at bay. Still, the investigation into the disappearance of three of Leti’s white neighbors was ongoing, and suspicion sat squarely under the Winthrop House roof.

But right now, Leti couldn’t care a wit.

Today was a positively balmy 90 degrees, her final installment check had cleared, and she had just rented her last available room. With a full house and peace of mind, Leti marched down Glenwood Avenue whistling a tune, looking fine, and paying no mind to the stares of the crow-like old white women she passed on her way home from the supermarket, the day’s last errand.

As she skipped up the stairs she greeted a few tenants enjoying a beer and a smoke out on the wrap-around porch before opening the door, only to be met with the hurried gallop of Baldwin, the resident canine companion. James, his owner, hurried past with his leash. 

“Sorry, Leti!” James called as he corralled his dog on the front lawn and calmed him down for an evening walk. 

“Lucky I didn’t spill my groceries!” She called back, teasing.

As she entered the house, the hum of fans only complimented the gentle melodies coming from the rooms above. She heard her sister, Ruby, doing vocal warmups and practicing a new tune, Jerry, a pianist, practicing in the front hall, and Steph the cellist working on her scales. 

It was the music of life, something Leti badly needed as she continued processing what had happened in Ardham. She was on the other side of death, and had been granted a second chance, one she didn’t intend to waste.

And just as her thoughts began to turn to him, Leti found Atticus Freeman alone in the kitchen, hovering over the fridge. Leti took a moment to admire the view and smiled to herself. It had been about two weeks since the housewarming, just over one week since the exorcism. She and Tic hadn’t revisited the topic of their first time, conversationally or otherwise. 

But it was all still there. She could tell that Tic had so much he wanted to say and do but his own shyness and maybe some uncertainty or shame kept him from it. As for her, so much had happened that she needed time to regroup, rebuild herself. But in that rebuilding she found a new desire to let others in. She had found it first with her sister, and a new motivation to mend that relationship, and now she was finding herself wanting, and ready, to be vulnerable with Tic, to let him care for her the way she hoped to care for him. 

They had already been through so much since their fateful reunion just over a month ago. When she looked at him now, she saw the man he’d finally become, but still, within, that little boy. The one she watched hold back tears as his father ridiculed and punished him for his story books. The one she saw light up over a map of imaginary places, places they promised each other they would one day find together.

And here he was, standing in her kitchen fishing a chicken leg out of the fridge and shoving it cold in his mouth.

“Oh, shit…” he mumbled as he tried to delicately finish his voracious bite, turning to see Leti leaned in the doorway. She stepped forward and set her groceries down on the table.

“Fueling up for a big night?” she teased. Tic gave an embarrassed smile, the kind that made Leti just a little bit weaker.

“Forgot lunch. Too busy looking through Uncle George’s books,” he explained. Tic was on the hunt to learn more about this mysterious Book of Names.

“Find anything yet?”

“Still working. But you’ll be the first to know, trust me.” 

Tic seemed to make a point to be out of her way, not wanting to make any un-asked-for contact. Leti began unpacking her groceries.

“Here, let me help you with this,” Tic said, remembering he was a gentleman. He took a few boxes of pancake mix and a sac of flour to a cabinet. 

Leti opened the fridge. To her delighted surprise, she found a bottle of champagne chilling on the bottom shelf.

“Now who’s this for?” she asked, pulling it out to inspect. Tic turned around to see her holding the bottle. Leti could see his face drop at first, then quickly recover.

“Must be James. Probably gonna celebrate his story getting published,” Tic quickly lied. Leti could tell, but was too intrigued to blow his cover.

“Must be,” she said, going along with it.

“But hey, what about you? Big plans for a Friday night?” Tic asked.

“Oh, you know me. I always stumble into something.”  
Tic nodded, calculating. Leti noticed.

“Why?”

“Just making conversation.”

Leti stopped what she was doing and observed him for a moment, his back turned to her as he put more items in the pantry. She moved closer to him without his awareness until she leaned against the table, arms crossed.

“You know, Tic…we still haven’t really talked about what happened.”

Tic stopped. Leti saw his shoulders tense as he brought his hands down to the counter, his back still turned from her. He took a deep breath and faced her.

“You’re sure you’re all right?” he asked, nervous.

“I am. I promise you. Are you all right?”

“I was worried…I was worried you’d decided that wasn’t what you wanted. And I’m sorry for not making more sure of it that night.”

“We were both sure, Tic,” Leti said, her voice low like that night.

“Yeah.” At this, he allowed himself a smirk, remembering that feeling of clear, unburdened want.

They both fell quiet as their minds traveled back, suddenly finding themselves a bit flush.

“Well listen, I got no real plans tonight. Knock on my door if you need any help or stumble on anything interesting, yeah?” she offered, sidling up to Tic and giving his arm a friendly graze with her fingers as she glided past, leaving Tic to finish with the groceries and cool himself down.

—————

A few hours later, night had arrived to offer some solace from the heat. Leti closed her eyes at the breeze that passed through her window, unsure if it was cool night air or the evening greeting of one of the ancestors peacefully roaming the house. Either way, it soothed her.

She sat on the settee near her window reading a copy of Jane Eyre, her favorite gothic romance, sipping on a cold glass of scotch.

Just as she turned the page to read of Jane rescuing Mr. Rochester from his burning bed, she heard a gentle knock at her door.

“Leti?” came Tic’s voice on the other side. “Are you decent?”

Leti set her things down and went to the door. She opened it to see Tic standing before her in a buttoned shirt and pressed pants.

“Well someone found himself a date for the night,” Leti teased, impressed by his getup.  
“I want show you something. Are you free?” he asked. She could sense something buzzing inside of him. He was eager, not afraid. It was infectious. It was a glimpse at the boy she once knew, coming back to life in front of her.

“I’m not dressed,” she said, looking down at the dress she’d been wearing all day. Of course, Leti was incapable of looking dressed down, even if she tried.

“You look great. Come on.”

Leti’s grin bloomed as Tic led her by the hand through the big old house and out the front door.

“Tic, where we going?” she asked excitedly.

“Just around the corner here,” he said, still clutching her hand as he took them around the side of the house toward the large backyard, out of view from prying neighbors.

And then, there it was:

A picnic blanket spread out on the grass, tea lights in candle holders dotting the edges to give some added light. Uncle George’s old telescope stood at the center, pointed at the starry night sky, and the champagne bottle she had spied in the fridge along with two glasses.

Above, the most spectacular and beguiling moon Leti had ever seen. 

“Atticus Freeman, what in the world…?” she said, walking slowly toward the scene that Tic stood proudly beside, waiting to invite her to sit.

“I was thinking…I’d like to start over.” Tic admitted as Leti approached him. They took their seats on the blanket.

“The moon, it’s…” she said, admiring its size and bright red color.

“It’s called the Wolf Blood Moon,” Tic said, the horror enthusiast giddy just to say the words. Leti lit up at the title.

“What does it mean?” she asked. 

“It happens when a lunar eclipse and full wolf moon all happen in the same night. A rare celestial meeting between the moon and sun.”

The pair admired it together.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I thought you’d like it. I remember reading about them once as a kid,” Tic explained.

“You’re not about to turn into a werewolf are you?” Leti asked, only half-kidding.

“Nah, I already did my hunting tonight.”

Leti guffawed. “Was that a joke? Did Tic Freeman just tell a joke?”

Tic blushed and laughed along with her.

“How’s about some champagne?”

“Mm, yes please.”

Tic popped the cork to a bright yelp from Leti, letting the foam spill onto the grass before pouring them each a glass.

“What are we cheersing?” Leti asked. “To the moon?”

Tic thought for a moment, “To life,” he said. Leti turned her eyes from the moon to Tic, finding his gaze settled deeply on her. The mood shifted as they sipped.

“I’m sorry it’s not a real date, no restaurant or anything.”

“Are you kidding? You and me out to dinner in this neighborhood? No. This is perfect.”

“I’m glad you like it. Like I said, I…I wanted to try again.”

Leti sipped, but her thoughts turned inward. 

“Something wrong?” Tic asked.

“No. Just…I’m worried you’re looking at me different. Think I’m delicate, or that you’ve broken me somehow. And I want you to know that I’m not. And you haven’t.”

Tic was startled by her words, steady as she gave them. 

“Leti, you’re one of the strongest people I know. I’ve ever known. I’d never think different of you.”

“Then what’s this, ‘try again,’ Tic? Nothing bad happened. You’re the one who’s been acting like we did something to regret.”

“Oh, no, Leti, that’s not what I meant. I just…I’d always thought that…” he struggled to find his words. Leti set her glass down and inched closer to him, placing a reassuring and desiring hand on his knee.

He continued, “All those years, whenever I thought about it, when I imagined what it’d be like, to be with you…it always looked something a little more like this, that’s all.”

Leti’s furrowed brow melted into surprise at Tic’s shy confession. A wry and swooning smile grew on her lips. 

“You imagined it? All those years?”

Tic blushed, “Man’s only got his memories overseas. And his imagination.”

“Oh, Tic,” Leti crooned. But Tic grew self-conscious and pulled his knees to his chest.

“Sorry, I guess it’s a little corny.”

Leti reached forward to take his hand, adjusting herself to be facing him more fully.

“You always were a romantic.”

“I guess.” Tic decided he didn’t mind the title. 

Leti inched closer to Tic, craning her neck toward him. Tic closed the distance between them with a tender kiss.

The pair adjusted themselves and set their glasses aside without parting, as if breaking the kiss would seal their doom somehow.

Stargazing abandoned, Tic relaxed his legs so that Leti could more comfortably straddle his lap. They came up for air only for a moment. Tic looked up at Leti, the brilliant moon casting a misty red halo around her, her eyes glowing ruby against the soft candlelight.

Leti held Tic’s face in her hands, gently stroking his cheek with her thumb. In the liquor-fueled, party-drunk passion of their first time, they had missed this moment. A recognition. Two outcasts, bonded from childhood, grown up to be the least-broken versions of themselves they could manage without each other. But here, under the eyes of the moon and Tic’s searching, wounded gaze, Leti felt one step closer to the resurrection she’d been seeking since their return from Ardham. Perhaps they weren’t the answer to all of each other’s eternal questions, but neither could deny that as Tic’s grip tightened around Leti at the welcome chill of a summer night breeze, something fell into place.

Leti crashed her lips against Tic’s as he moved his hands up and down her back, touching skin where the dress fabric gave way. The passion that had taken them that night was renewed, but somehow more urgent, more sacred. As if they and the moon could feel the stirrings of true love enter the scene.

“Should we go inside?” Tic asked in a hoarse whisper. Leti had already begun untucking his shirt.

“No, here,” she sighed, capturing him again in a kiss as her fingers turned to his shirt buttons.

“What if someone sees?” Tic managed between kisses.

“I don’t care.” In the haze of her desire Leti reasoned that she had died once, she could do it again. Nothing to lose.

As she freed Tic’s heaving chest from his shirt, she adjusted herself to be more entirely on his lap, making easy work of his belt. Tic shrugged off his shirt and pulled down the sleeves of Leti’s dress, wanting to kiss and feel as much of her body as he could. Leti craned her head back as Tic’s lips moved from her neck to her collar and down to her breasts, leaving haphazard wet kisses in his wake.

Finally, Leti managed to get his pants loose, and in a moment, she pulled aside the fabric in her way and guided him into her.

They both gasped against each other, Tic pulling her closer, Leti’s fingernails sharp against Tic’s muscular back. Leti felt only the immediate sting that gave way soon to pleasure as they moved as one, both present, both seeking more feeling, more closeness, with every thrust.

Leti tried to keep composure, not entirely forgetting their surroundings, but the cause was lost soon enough. Tic marveled as Leti arched backward, throwing her head back in ecstasy as the moon shone down, blood red against the sweat glistening on her breasts.

When she could feel herself about to cry out, Leti collapsed herself against Tic, bringing them closer, tighter together, their movements becoming quicker, needier. She could feel Tic’s heart beat at a racing pace, matching her own. She breathed and gasped into Tic’s ear, his quickening moans vibrating against her neck.

Leti felt herself let go first, biting hard into Tic’s neck like the undead woman she was, letting his skin and her clenched teeth muffle her cry of release. Stunned by the bite, it sent Tic to his own small, sudden death. They shuddered against each other, clinging tight, as the tremors of climax subsided little by little.

Stillness crept back into the night around them as they came down from their staggering heights. Nothing moved, only the earth breathed, a gentle breeze giving life to their sighs. The lovers stayed motionless, as Leti’s eyes closed against Tic’s shoulder and he nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, still inside of her. They were so at ease, so peaceful in their coitus that they wondered if they might fall asleep.

The cry of an owl startled them back into the present. Leti and Tic untucked themselves from each other’s embrace and looked to one another, their gazes somehow even more piercing and soul-finding than before. Tic leaned forward with a gentle kiss, a tender final note to the blinding passion that came before.

The lovers separated and retreated into themselves for a moment, restoring scattered clothing and repairing only some of the walls they still kept up for one another. Tic smoothed the blanket and laid down, leaving his shirt open. Leti smiled, letting go a breathy laugh at Tic’s insistence to get in at least some stargazing. 

Leti leaned toward the telescope and peered into the viewfinder. The mighty red moon revealed all its cracks and craters to her. It felt more human, somehow.

She moved away and came to lie beside Tic, gazing up at the stars with their naked eyes. He kissed the top of her head and ran a soft hand through her hair. Leti closed her eyes, wondering if her life had ever felt quite so complete as this moment.

“Hey, Leti?” Tic asked softly. “Can I ask you something?”

Leti gave a small sound in reply.

“Where did you go?”

She didn’t need him to say, “when you died.” And he knew she didn’t. It was a question she had been too afraid to ask herself. To look death in the eye, alone and without anyone beside her, was a thought that visited her only in nightmares. But somehow, Tic’s question didn’t break the spell of the moment. In fact, here in his arms and staring up at the stars, she felt as ready to face eternity as anyone could. 

“I went there,” she said, pointing out the brightest star they could see. Tic let out a sigh as a smiled spilled over his face.

“The belt of Orion?” he asked, playfully. Leti laughed against his chest.

“Yes, sir. In my spaceship. Didn’t you see me take off?”

“Must have missed it.”

“She’s a quick ship, she is.”

“She oughtta be, if you wanna escape the tribes of Mars quick enough.”

“Me and John Carter up in the stars.”

“You can do better than John Carter. Ain’t right for you to be up there with a Confederate.”

Leti snuggled closer to Tic, putting her arm across his stomach and pulling him tighter.

“You’re right. Next time it’ll be you and me up there.”

“You promise?”

Leti’s eyes opened at the sudden vulnerability in Tic’s voice. She sat up enough to look into his eyes, only to find the boy she once knew looking back at her. 

And suddenly she was that girl, both of them no more than 13, lit by the low-burning table lamp in the Southside library. Before them, a map of some far-off magical world from one of Leti’s books. She had already marked all the places she wanted to take him. When the question came, he looked at her with caution, and somehow only then did she notice the bruise under his right eye.

And here she was again, looking at the man that boy had become, without bruises but not without pain, a pain she would never know.

Leti gave him the same answer she had given then, only this time, it came as a long, tender kiss.

When she pulled away, there were tears in both of their eyes, as they silently agreed that there were no more words needed tonight. Leti leaned back down against Tic’s chest, feeling his heartbeat slow to a calm. Above them, the moon shone brightly on.


End file.
